Finally
by Wanda W
Summary: The final addition to the ROGAN 'Tipsy' series sees Jubilee mouthing off again shocking, right? , a disappointed Kitty, an amorous Cyke/Jean, and a blushing Ororo.


**A.N.: We have arrived at the seventh and final installment in the "Tipsy" series. This has been a fun little series and would not have happened without the encouragement, coaxing, and support of all of you reviewers. Thanks so much for making this happen… it's been a fun ride! I would love to hear what you think of this conclusion. **

**Disclaimer: They aren't mine, but I sure do like playing with them.**

Rogue, too, heard Wolverine and detoured to her room rather than heading downstairs as planned. All this drama was just too much for her, quite frankly. What she needed was a good night's sleep and a fresh outlook in the morning. Hating the way her heart lurched at the emotion lacing his roar, the strange link that tied her irrevocably to a man who'd never see her the way she hoped for, she curled up in her bed with the covers bunched atop her balled-up form. When the professor did his mental check-in, she simply let him know she was tired and was turning in early.

He kindly let it go and distracted the others who were asking after her so she would enjoy some much-needed peace. As worn out as she was, sleep evaded Rogue until she slipped her iPod ear buds in and let the music carry her away. Logan paced the hall for a couple of hours before giving up on seeing her again that night and retreating to his own room to lick his wounds in private. He was getting pretty tired of the two of them providing the entire mansion population with entertainment. What he couldn't figure out was how he was supposed to bring it to the end he wanted more than he'd have thought possible back before finding her huddled in the bed of his truck.

His kid, his girl, his Marie… she'd trusted him from the beginning, worried for him, never turned away from him no matter what he did or what she discovered about him. How could he not care about her? The fact that she'd grown into his confidante, best friend, and a beautiful stunner only magnified the feelings that were already growing in his heart. Crap! Before her he hadn't even been completely certain he had a heart. Now he thought it just might be breaking.

"When did the mighty Wolverine become the king of angst?"

Logan turned at the sound of another voice only to see Warren propped against his door. The Wolverine in him raged inside, wanting nothing more than to surge forward and tear the winged mutant who'd held Marie in his arms earlier to shreds. "What do you want?"

"Honestly?" Warren's answer was the raising of Logan's brow. He shrugged a bit. "I want things back to normal. I'm sick of all the drama and frankly think the two of you are being so stupid I may need to rethink my stance that you are two of the most balanced, normal ones here."

"You are an idiot!" Logan burst. When Warren clearly wasn't catching on, he explained, "You seriously thought of Rogue and I as balanced and normal?" He barked out a laugh of disbelief.

"Yeah, well… I'm also the weird rich kid with wings whose father invented the cure, so I may not have the best judgment in the world." Warren wry self-deprecation brought out an acknowledging twist of Logan's lips.

"I'm sorry about earlier, but you know it was nothing like what you were thinking, right? I mean, I like Rogue but we're friends. It always settles things in my head when I go for a fly and I thought it might help her, too, you know?"

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that. Sometimes the instincts get a little hard to handle."

"No problem," Warren assured. "I understand. We all hope you guys get this worked out soon… for everyone's sake."

"Thanks." That was it before Logan was left alone with his thoughts again. It was very late by the time he lay down to stare at the ceiling. "What do I do to get through to you, kid?" The nickname had started out as a necessary reminder to himself that she was too young and had somehow become an affectionate pet name as time wore on.

He dug around in his nightstand drawer before finding what he was looking for… if anyone knew Logan was stretched out on his bed, a photograph he'd pilfered from Jubilee's collection one day clutched in one hand where it rested on his chest so he could look at his Marie's peaceful-looking image as his eyes grew heavier they wouldn't believe it, but it was still gripped by his blunt fingers when he woke in the morning.

The next morning saw Rogue descending so early she got to watch the sunrise through the picture window in the kitchen while sipping her second cup of coffee. Jubilee of all people was the first to join her. Usually the young woman was the last up in the mornings. Her clothing may make her look like a walking, talking ray of sunshine, but everyone who knew her was aware that waking her before ten o'clock without good reason was like taking your life in your hands. "Good morning," Rogue greeted.

"Hmph," was all the response she received.

Rogue loved Jubes, but was still fuming about her friend's betrayal. Trying to be the bigger person, she asked, "How's the face?"

Jubilee turned narrowed eyes on her friend. "It would be better if I could get any sleep at all. Especially if I could sleep in _my_ room in _my own_ bed."

"I didn't tell you to move in with Kitty. Everyone knows her room is like Grand Central Station not to mention the snoring." She decided she'd been the better woman long enough. "Not to mention, I'm not the one who decided to make out with the man one of my best friends has been interested in for years."

Jubilee rolled her eyes, staring vacantly at the doorway for a heartbeat before snapping out, "Look… A-You're the dork who refuses to do anything about Wolvie, and B-You're both idiots. I'm starting to think you both deserve all this stinkin' misery. I'd leave you to wallow if it weren't for the fact that you're both dragging the rest of us down with you." She went to sit down before continuing, ignoring the scathing glare from the southerner.

It was probably a good thing, too, since Rogue's glower could peel paint right about then. "Seriously, I don't give a flying fig newton how you work it out, but the two of you need to pee or get off the pot already. Not only are the pair of you barely functional at this point, but it's affecting the entire Institute and you both need to quit being so selfish."

Rogue opened her mouth to let out the stream of harsh words just bursting forth, but Jubilee pointed a finger and continued her own rant before Rogue could get it out. "And for the record, sexy though he is, the farthest thing from my mind is wanting Wolvie for myself. He is so yours you may as well have marked him like a dog on a tree a long time ago. Everyone knows they don't stand a chance. I was _trying_ to get you to do something about it since he is apparently ready to wait for the end of time before he mans up, throws you over his shoulder, and carries you off to his den or whatever it is those weird badger-cousins do. Who knew you'd be as dense as him?"

With no warning Jubes slammed her hands against the table top and pushed to her feet at the same time Rogue became aware of another presence, tipped off by the rumble behind her. "Now I'm going to my bed in my room and I'm going to sleep there, uninterrupted (this was said with warning lacing every syllable), while the two of you figure out which way is up." Leaving her mug where it was she spared them each one more glower before storming away, pausing only long enough to shove the hulking form that was Logan out of her way.

Logan couldn't decide if he should stay and check on Marie or chase down banana butt and give her a firm talking to. The shaky sigh from the kitchen decided him and Logan continued into the room he'd been heading for initially. He didn't swerve to get some coffee, he didn't even glance away from her curvaceous form, he simply went straight to Marie and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his chest to stroke down her hair and back, nothing but comfort in his touch.

After several more minutes wherein she snuggled against him and used her nails to run lightly across the back of his waist where her own arms had wound around him, he spoke into her sweetly scented hair. "Pretty rough few days, huh darlin'?"

She nodded as she answered in soft, low tones. "Yeah, I'd say so. Logan?"

"Yeah, Marie?"

"What really happened with Jubilee?"

"Hell if I know! I was just snagging a snack before heading up to watch some hockey and the freak attacked me in the hall." Logan ran both hands through her hair before framing her face and tilting it back to force her to look at him. Only after her eyes met his did he say, "Marie, I am not interested in her, or Storm, or Jean, or anyone else. There's only one girl, one incredible, beautiful, sassy woman for me." Seeing that she still wasn't getting it, he urged, "Please, Marie… I'm beggin' you to turn on your skin for me. Not for long; I'll be fine. I need you to do this for me. Trust me, kid." She blinked up at him feeling so unsure.

Finally, without warning, he felt that familiar pull and knew she'd done it for him. His eyes tilted back behind lowering lids, relief flooding him. Rogue gasped as his intense emotions rushed into her mind. Images of her from his point of view played in fast forward while his deep affection and concern for her filled her thoughts. That's when Wolverine made himself felt and she grew flushed while his possessive, heated, almost obsessive love for her filled every corner of her mind. Logan's hands had dropped to her waist now, holding her steady as she sorted through all he'd just shared with her.

Logan would never be the kind of man who could use flowery words to say it all, but he felt things deeply, powerfully, his emotions as forceful and extreme as everything else about the man. He looked down at her sweet, soft face; her rosy lips parted while she assimilated all the new information. The darkening of her cheeks made him wonder just which things she'd absorbed from him, but he no longer cared. The sparkler was right; it was time to quit screwing around and just get it all out there.

Finally Rogue started breathing more evenly and lowered her bare hands to his wrists with no drain. He fidgeted a little as she studied him closely, obviously still sorting through things. Logan hated this wuss feeling of panic that filled him as he tried and failed to read her reaction. Was this how that pansy Scooter felt all the time? Must suck to be him.

Finally Rogue moved. The next thing he knew she was kissing him tenderly, her lips varying between clinging moistly to his and whispering across his mouth intermittently. Her delicate hands stroked over his jaw on each side while his wrapped around her waist more tightly holding her firmly as the random thought drifted through that he could span her entire waist with his fingers.

Logan lifted her into his embrace to hold her tightly to him. She broke away from his mouth long enough to whisper in the most alluring voice he'd ever heard, "Ah love ya', too, babe… so much." He closed his eyes, savoring this moment with his girl, his chest reverberating with what she soon realized was an actual purr.

Kitty, who'd been peering around the corner ever since she'd almost barged in before seeing Logan finally convincing Rogue to flip her internal switch, clamped one hand over her mouth before racing upstairs to jump on poor Jubilee's bed and announce, "Oh my gosh! Jubesy!! They finally got together! They're KISSING!"

Jubilee groaned in protest at the weight tackling her when she'd finally fallen asleep. "Happy, happy, joy, joy Kit."

"Aren't you happy for them?" asked her disappointed friend.

Jubilee sighed from the depths of her soul before answering. "Yes, Kitty. I am. It's about friggin' time. Now I can finally get some sleep… I hope!"

Disgruntled at Jubilee's lackluster reaction, Kitty pouted her way out of the room.

"Mmmm," Jean moaned enticingly, rolling over to wrap herself around her husband. More than happy with his wake-up call, Scott couldn't help wondering what had stirred her up so suddenly. He'd been watching her sleep deeply for twenty minutes already and now she was rubbing his stomach amorously. "Marie," she moaned.

Scott almost laughed out loud as he realized what was happening. He shook his wife's shoulder, "Jean, honey… Jean, wake up." She blinked up at him, curious about why he was waking her so early when her mind was once more assaulted by the tumult of emotion from both Logan and Rogue.

She blushed, but giggled nonetheless. "Sorry, honey," she apologized while blushing a little as she realized what had happened and how his body was reacting to it.

"Believe me, Jean, it's okay," he quipped suggestively before rolling towards her to kiss his wife.

"It would seem life is going to settle back into a relatively calm routine once more, Ororo," Charles commented as he lowered his teacup back to its saucer. The elegant woman occupying the other armchair smiled gently.

"That's good to know. They really will make a charming couple, I believe, not to mention a formidable pair of combatants in the field."

"Very true," Xavier agreed.

"Now we simply need to see Kitty settled with that kind-hearted young man, find someone willing to take on Jubilee and John, and get you and Moira to settle things at last and all will be well." She chuckled as she issued her commentary and couldn't resist tacking on the bit about her mentor and his long-time love interest.

The professor wasn't in the least flustered, however, as he corrected her. "You've forgotten one important matter, my dear."

Storm arched her delicate brows inquiringly and he obligingly informed her, "We must bring Kurt Wagner back to the Institute so your courtship can continue where it left off, also." His lips curved up in satisfaction when she coughed into her delicate china cup, her last sip of tea choking her.

**The End**


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